"Pooh! She thought nothing of human life, and was a kind of female Napoleon in that way. She wrung Dimsdale's neck as though he had been a chicken the moment she found her personal safety was in danger. Had he not torn off her mask and thus recognised her she would have spared him. A marvellously clever woman: she quite took me in. I never expected to find The Spider in her, and had not Maunders escaped to betray her I would have believed that the non-existing Francis was the blackguard. And more, she would have got ten thousand pounds from Ida, and perhaps in America would have started on a new career of roguery. However, I recovered the signed document and the cheque from the body, so nothing was said about that matter in the papers. I was glad for my wife's sake." "What became of Bahadur?" "He bolted from the country and has never been heard of. His uncle, Hokar, as you know, died after the explosion." "And Mrs. Bedge?" "She buried all memory of Constantine with his bones, but I think she regards him as a martyr who was led astray by Miss Hest. Yet from the lips of The Spider herself I learned that it was Maunders who induced that very clever lady to become a criminal." "Do you think Maunders himself blackmailed his aunt?" "He was quite capable of it. But I think Miss Hest did that to protect Maunders from possible suspicion. For no one would think that the man had anything to do with the matter of The Spider, who blackmailed his adopted mother. Simply a smart trick of Miss Hest's, Vernon, that's all." "Have some more champagne, Colonel?" "Thank you, no more. Come along and see my wife." "I have to meet Lucy at Swan & Edgar's," said Vernon glancing at his watch. "I'll go with you there first and then we can have afternoon tea together." "Right you are, Colonel, on condition that you dine with Lucy and myself at our hotel and come to the theatre afterwards." Towton nodded. "Well, Ida and I are up in town for a frolic, so we'll come." "When do you return to Bowderstyke?" "In two or three days. I'm seeing about the re-building of the Bolly Dam." "Isn't that dangerous?" asked Vernon as they left the club. "No. I am arranging for large channels to carry off the water. Besides, had not the dam been blown up by that Indian beast the catastrophe would not have taken place. Any more questions?" "No," said Sir Arthur after a pause. "I think you have enlightened me on every point. We'll talk no more of the matter." "Not in the presence of our wives, at all events," said the Colonel bluffly, and stepping out smartly along Pall Mall. "But when I think of all the mystery and devilish cantrips we have had to do with, and how narrowly Ida and I escaped a dreadful death, I can only thank God that we are happily married. There's one small domestic animal, if it can be called so, Vernon, on which I can never look without a shudder." "What's that?" asked Sir Arthur, not following his friend's train of thought.